Lecture 3

Prepare By:
Dr. Muhammad Asif Khan
Department of Management Sciences
University of Swabi, Swabi
 IDENTIFYING AND RECOGNIZING
OPPORTUNITIES
• An opportunity is a favorable set of circumstances that creates a
need for a new product, service, or business.

• An entrepreneur recognizes a problem or an opportunity gap

and creates a business to fill it.

• The term window of opportunity is a metaphor describing the time

period in which a firm can realistically enter a new market.

• An opportunity has four essential qualities: It is (1) attractive, (2) durable, (3) timely, and (4) anchored in a
product, service, or business that creates or adds value for its buyer or end user.
• An idea is a thought, an impression, or a notion.6 An idea
may or may not meet the criteria of an opportunity.
• The first approach to identifying opportunities is to observe trends and study how they create
opportunities for entrepreneurs to pursue.
• The most important trends to follow are economic trends, social trends, technological advances, and
political action and regulatory changes.

• There are two cautions to keep in mind.

• First, it’s important to distinguish between trends and fads.
• Second, even though we discuss each trend individually, they are interconnected and should be
considered simultaneously when brainstorming new business ideas.
 2. Solving a Problem
• The second approach to identifying opportunities is to recognize problems
and find ways to solve them.
• These problems can be recognized by observing the challenges that people
encounter in their daily lives.
• For example, transformation from button mobile to smartphones,
emergence of solar panels etc.
FINDING GAPS IN THE MARKETPLACE
• Gaps in the marketplace are the third source of business ideas.
• There are many examples of products that consumers need or want that aren’t available in a
particular location or aren’t available at all.
• Part of the problem is created by large retailers, like Walmart and Costco, which compete
primarily on price and offer the most popular items targeted toward mainstream consumers.
• While this approach allows the large retailers to achieve economies of scale, it leaves gaps
in the marketplace.
• Product gaps in the marketplace represent potentially viable business opportunities.